


Home is a promise I'll always keep

by styleztomlinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Always in my heart tweet, Canon Compliant, Domesticity, Fluff, M/M, Reunion, Schmoop, nothing else, this is literally just 2700 words of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-19
Updated: 2015-01-19
Packaged: 2018-03-08 04:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3194861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/styleztomlinson/pseuds/styleztomlinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first thing Harry did when he saw him was break out into a wide grin and reach out his arms for his boy. Actually, the very first thing was to nearly trip over a pair of shoes (Louis’ Vans, which, details), something that Louis would tease him for later. Right now he just wanted to touch, and be as close as possible to his boy.</p><p>or,</p><p>Harry and Louis, a tweet, a coming home and a whole lot of love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is a promise I'll always keep

**Author's Note:**

> My best friend [Jesse](http://lostallofmyinnocence.tumblr.com) sent me [this](http://strangenewfriends.tumblr.com/post/108445914094/someone-write-a-nice-fic-about-the-aimh-tweet) post, and jokingly wanted me to write it for her. My fingers itched as soon as I'd read it, and about two hours or so later, this was the finished product. Beta'd Jesse, and grammatical advice provided by [Julia](http://possiblywonderful.tumblr.com). This is for Jesse, who is always there for me, and who makes me smile even though we're countries apart. The title is from [this](http://tylerknott.com/post/108357194092/home-is-a-promise-that-i-will-make-every-day-if) haiku by Tyler Knott Gregson.

Louis yawned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, padding softly into the kitchen to make himself his morning cuppa. Once he was finished, he headed back into the bedroom to grab his iPad and answer some emails. He’d never really gotten used to sleeping alone – he hated the times when he had to, and longed for the empty space on the right side of the bed to be filled with long limbs and a head of curls and the most sparkling green eyes he’d ever encountered.

He was typing away a reply to Irving about 78 Productions when he faintly heard a key being slipped into the front door lock, twisting around. His head perked up, his gaze falling on the small digits on the screen signaling the time. Harry wasn’t supposed to be back until a couple of days from now. Logically, he knew that it could just as well be any of the boys since they had decided to give them all keys in case of emergencies (or in sudden impulses to have a Fifa tournament, as per Louis and Niall’s request), but somehow, he knew that it wasn’t any of them. He closed the case on his tablet and put it aside before he got out of bed and walked down the stairs and into the hallway. 

The first thing Harry did when he saw him was break out into a wide grin and reach out his arms for his boy. Actually, the _very_ first thing was to nearly trip over a pair of shoes (Louis’ Vans, which, _details_ ), something that Louis would tease him for later. Right now he just wanted to _touch_ , and be as close as possible to his boy. He stepped forward just as Harry dropped his bag down onto the floor.

“What are you _doing_ here, you prat?” Louis asked, the fondness in his voice betraying him as he wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist, burying his nose in the crook of his neck to breathe in the scent of home that he always chased to find whenever Harry was away. Wearing Harry’s clothes was a good option for most part, which was why he greeted Harry wearing his knit lavender jumper.

“Don’t sound too excited,” Harry said, and Louis could _hear_ the pout in his tone, “I finished up some stuff early so I could catch an earlier flight. I have a spouse that I wanted to get home to.” 

“I hope this spouse of yours was worth the long flight,” Louis said, pulling back to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw. 

“Definitely. One of the best bums I’ve ever seen,” Harry said, eyes sparkling as he reached his hand down to give it a light squeeze.

“How very dare you,” Louis said, feigning mock offense. “One of?” 

“My sincerest apologies. The very best,” Harry deadpanned.

“There’s a good lad.”

“I missed you,” Harry said, his voice quieter now, softer. “I wanted to go home. I _missed_ my home,” he finished, resting his hand on the compass on Louis’ right arm.

Louis smiled softly. “Sap. Ged ‘ere, you.”

Harry used his arms around Louis’ waist to pull him closer, leaning down to close the distance between them. Louis’ smiled as Harry’s warm breath hit his cheek, the feeling of Harry’s lips on his skin not long behind.

“Those are not my lips, Harold,” he chided.

“Oops.” 

“Hi,” Louis replied instinctively, nudging Harry’s nose with his own before finally bringing their lips together in a warm kiss.

Harry smiled into the kiss as Louis ran his tongue against his bottom lip, deepening the kiss when Harry parted his lips. Their tongues met as Louis reached a hand up to run his fingers through Harry’s hair, smiling when he felt Harry moan into the kiss. Kissing Harry felt almost exactly the same as it had the first time they kissed. He still felt as if he would never get enough of the feeling of his soft, plump lips against his own and of how responsive Harry was to his touch. The only thing that had changed now was that they knew each other better, inside and out. Harry knew just how to move his lips against Louis’ to make him weak in the knees, and Louis knew how to touch Harry _just_ so to make him sigh into the kiss.

They kissed for what felt like an eternity, and somehow it was still not enough. When they eventually broke apart, it was only far enough to continue exchanging soft, closed-mouthed kisses, neither of them ready to pull away just yet.

“I missed you too, in case that wasn’t obvious,” Louis murmured against his lips.

“I can tell,” Harry replied, his fingers running over the fabric of the jumper.

“You’re one to talk.” Small, nimble fingers traced across Harry’s (Louis’) Adidas hoodie, the green color lovely against his pale skin and kiss-stained lips.

Louis laughed as Harry grumbled adorably while toeing off his heeled black boots. 

“If I recall, _someone_ tossed this into my bag without me knowing.”

“I do not like that accusatory tone, Harold. I would never.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Harry agreed nodding, smiling before kissing the corner of his mouth. “I didn’t _just_ come home because I missed you, though,” he said, apropos nothing.

“Way to wound a lad, Hazza.”

“Did you see?”

“See what?” he teased, feigning ignorance. “The sky? The never-changing British weather? The news?”

“The tweet, Lou.”

“Of course I did, Haz. The lads texted me, and you too I presume, as soon as they found out.”

“We’re more famous than Obama, “ Harry said, his lips spreading into a wide, happy grin. “We’re _bigger_ than him.”

“First of all, we are not _bigger_ than the president-“

“Of the United States, Lou, there’s more than _one_ president-“ Harry interjected. 

“And secondly,” Louis continued, “how come the other lads texted me about it but my own fiancé didn’t?” he asked, his hand unconsciously toying with the simple silver ring resting on his ring finger. Harry had an identical one – Louis had given it to him when he proposed for the umpteenth time, hidden inside the Yves Saint Laurent ring with the compartment that he’d caught Harry looking at when they visited the store in New York and then bought him it for Christmas. Knowing Harry, it was still inside the ring, as he was wearing it now.

Confirming Louis’ suspicions, Harry fiddled with the large ring on his fourth finger. “I didn’t want to text you about it because I wanted us to celebrate it together. Not an ocean apart.”

“You’re so lovely,” Louis blurted, unable to contain the fondness and love he felt for his boy. “My lovely boy.”

Harry smiled softly, pulling Louis into a warm embrace. “It makes me so happy, y’know? That's eight hundred thousand people.”

“Eight hundred and twenty now, love, but carry on.” 

“That so many people seem to _know_ , or at the very least support us. That they’d choose to believe that rather than all the other f… stuff,” he said, not wanting to give voice to all the madness. He knew Louis would understand what he meant.

“I know, darling, me too” Louis said, nuzzling Harry’s neck. “Me too.” 

They both knew that they didn’t have long to go now – the road that they had been on was infinitesimally small compared to the short amount of time that they had left before they would finally be free. _This time I’m ready to run… ‘cause I want to be free and I want to be yours_ , came to Louis’ mind, the lyrics he’d penned with Harry when they’d gotten the confirmation that their coming out process was actually happening, that they had a set date for when all of the hiding would be over with.

“We should celebrate,” Harry said, pulling away to look at him.  “There should be some of the chocolate from that local store in Cheshire that you like left in the fridge. And I bought champagne,” he finished, smiling.

“My favorite chocolate _and_ champagne, eh? You sure know how to spoil a man, Hazza.” 

“Nah,” Harry shrugged. “I just like to think that I’m good at loving you.”

“You are,” Louis said quietly, taking Harry’s hand in his own and running his thumb along his ring. “The very, very best. No one else could ever come close.”

Louis stepped up on Harry’s toes to press a soft kiss to his lips. “I love you,” he whispered when they broke apart.

“I love you, too,” came Harry’s reply not even a moment later. “I’m so happy to be home.”  
  
“Me too. Now,” Louis said, spreading his arms out. “We have champagne.”

“Yes.”

“We have chocolate.”

“Yes. And strawberries in the fridge, unless you’ve eaten them already.”

“I would never. At least not without buying new ones. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted – looking at you, _Harold_ -,” he said, making him giggle, “we have champagne, and we have chocolate. _And_ ,” he continued, “there’s a very, very fit boy standing in front of me and I’d quite like to snog him senseless right about now. I propose that we take this to the bedroom,”

“Lead the way, Tomlinson.”

“Will do, Styles.”

“Heeey,” Harry pouted. “That’s Tomlinson to you.”

Louis laughed, bright and happy, as Harry reached into his bag to grab the champagne and Louis walked into the kitchen to grab the chocolate and the strawberries. When he’d grabbed it all, he started walking for the stairs and felt Harry plaster himself against his back. They stumbled towards their bedroom pressed closely together, with Harry’s curls tickling his skin and Harry pressing kisses along his jaw.

“Careful, H, or that champagne will end up on the floor. Maybe even the strawberries, too. Besides,” he continued, “there’ll be no funny business.”

“But,” Harry said, and Louis could feel his pouting lips against his neck.

“No buts. You don’t look like you’ve slept on the plane, and the last time that happened, you fell asleep in the middle of me giving you a blowjob. You need some rest first, love.”

“I can’t tell if you becoming a proper business man has made you smarter or more infuriating.”

“Both, love. Always both.”

Once they’d made it into the bedroom, Harry let go of Louis to take off his black skinny jeans.

“We still have a few episodes of _Breaking Bad_ left, if you’re up for it?” Louis asked, knowing full well that Harry needed some time to wind down before he could drift off in a well-deserved nap.

“Yaaay,” Harry cheered quietly, bringing his hands together in a quiet clap after he’d discarded the hoodie and the shirt he’d been wearing underneath it.

Louis smiled softly, fondly, at his boy before taking off his shirt and speckle joggers and crawling into bed and holding the covers up for him. Harry ran his hand through his hair before getting into the bed next to him, filling up the space that has been vacant for much too long.

Louis leaned back, resting his back against the headboard and opened his arms. Harry complied instantly, curling himself into Louis’ body and resting his head against his chest.

“I’ve been thinking,” Louis said quietly, running his hand through Harry’s hair before feeding him a strawberry.

“Mhm?” Harry hummed, nibbling on the fruit.

“You should tattoo me again.”

Harry turned his head to look at him, his hand unconsciously gripping Louis’ thigh where there was a small _H_ tattooed onto the inside of it.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I want you to write _always_ ,” Louis said, taking Harry’s hand and bringing it to his chest, right above his heart, “right here.”

“Lou,” Harry said, his voice tight with emotion.

“I still have trouble believing you’re mine sometimes. We’ve been through so much, and I wonder sometimes how we’ve managed not to fall apart yet, even though I know it’s because you make me strong, we make _each other_ strong. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and there isn’t a world in which we wouldn’t meet, or I wouldn’t choose you, because I always will. And you’ll always be in my heart, just like I wrote nearly four years ago. And I want it inked into my skin, partly because it’s something that we’ve done for so long –the ship to my compass, my dagger to your rose, the anchor that keeps me from sinking, from falling apart. And also because… Because that’s where you are, y’know? Whether you’re in Los Angeles or in New York or right here next to me, you’re always there. You made it your own a long time ago. Probably the very first time we met, ‘f I’m being honest.”

“In fact,” Louis continued, his voice trembling, “you should try it out right now,” he said, grabbing a pen from the nightstand.

Harry closed his fingers around the pen, brushing against Louis’ in the process and smiling softly.

“I love you so much,” he said, resting their foreheads together. “I can’t believe you’re mine.” 

“Better believe it, love. Got the tattoos and all to prove it. And the engagement rings.”

Harry uncapped the pen before caressing Louis’ chest, looking up at him and meeting his soft gaze before bringing it against his skin. The tip of his tongue stuck out from between his lips in concentration as he wrote on him, trying his best to keep his hands from shaking. When he was done, he leaned down and pressed a kiss above it, letting his lips linger.

  
“I want an L,” Harry said, giving Louis the pen, “in the exact same spot.”

Louis pressed a hard, lingering kiss to his lips before letting the tip of the pen meet Harry’s skin. He wrote carefully, trying to make it resemble the _A_ and the _G_ on Harry’s shoulders. Once he was finished, he leaned down and kissed the very spot, running his fingers and the L now inked (temporarily) into his skin.

“I love you,” Louis said, bringing their lips together in a kiss. “I love you so much, darling. Always.”

“ _Someone like you, always be my baby,_ ” Harry sang quietly, giggling against Louis’ skin.

“Shut up,” Louis pretended to groan. “Don’t make me regret getting complementary tattoos with you. Or asking you to marry me.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You’re right,” Louis said, his voice softening. “I could never regret you.” 

Harry rolled over onto his back, and after tossing the pen aside, Louis wrapped his arms around his waist, tangled their legs together and folded him into his embrace, nuzzling his nose into the spot where his neck meets his shoulder. His curls tickled his nose as he breathed in the scent of Harry’s cologne, the faint smell of sweat and the underlying scent that is just _him_.

In the end, the chocolate melted before they had a chance to eat it, and the champagne and strawberries were long forgotten. But none of it mattered – the only thing that did was that they were together, wrapped up in each other, and in love.

Later, in the not too distant future, once they’re completely free from the shackles that bound them, Harry will retweet Louis’ original tweet. Moments later, two pictures will be uploaded to Instagram: the first will be from this very day when Harry came back – a snapshot of Harry wrapped up in Louis’ embrace, his lips pressing a soft kiss into his dimple as Harry smiles, a smile soft and private, the one that’s only reserved for him – with the simple caption “Always”. The next picture that Harry uploads will be a close-up of Louis’ tanned chest, the dark, single word always permanently inked into the skin above his chest. Harry’s brown head of curls will be visible in the picture, his lips pressed right beneath the ink. There’ll be no caption necessary for that one.

Now, Louis fell asleep right where he’s supposed to be: being lulled into calmness by the feeling of the steady rise and fall of Harry’s chest, their fingers interlaced over Harry’s stomach and Louis’ cold toes pressed between his calves. He fell asleep holding his fiancé and the love of his life in his arms – the one boy who’d managed to capture Harry’s heart and made a home for himself within it.

Always.

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii. First of all: I have no idea how big the compartment of the YSL ring actually is, but for the sake of the fic I went with it being large enough to fit another ring. Secondly, thank you so much for reading. Any kind of feedback means the world to me and brightens my day, in case you feel like it. I'm [styleztomlinson](http://styleztomlinson.tumblr.com) on Tumblr, too, if you want to stop by and say hi. I'm always all for making new friends. :)


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